Reed control for loom



July 16, 1957 c. P. BERGsTRoM ETAI- REED CONTROL FOR LOOM Filed Feb. 28, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 nlllmulll vo fo mvENTcRs cARLr-r BERGsTRoM wlLFRED o. Hows ATTORNEY July 16, 1957 c. P. BERGSTROM ETAI- REED CONTROL FOR LOOM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 28, 1956 S R www. 4W 3 www m m m www F E l Lw e .Ilan/f f, m mm ATTORNEY July 16, 1957 Filed Feb. 28, 1956 C. P. BERGSTROM ET AL REED CONTROL FOR LOOM 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 m EEr-LwE MEEVSZ E XEUI ' lNvENoRs CARL n BERGsTRoM WILFRED C. HOWE ATTORNEY nited States Patent REED CONTROL FOR LOOM Carl P. Bergstrom, Millbury, and Wilfred C. Howe, Worcester, Mass., assignors to Crompton & Knowles Loom Works, Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 28, 1956, Serial No. 568,406

Claims. (Cl. 139-191) This invention relates to weft replenishing looms more particularly of the type in which a blank or nonweft laying beat occurs incident to a replenishing operation and it is the general object of the invention to provide improved beat-up means for such a loom controlled in such a manner as to prevent the reed from striking the fell of the cloth on the beats or cycles of the looms corre-v sponding to the nonweft laying beats.

In the automatic weaving of certain fabrics, such as two-color pick and pick, a form of mechanism has come into use wherein two shuttles carrying different wefts operate for a series of successive loom beats or one-pick cycles in which weft replenishment cannot occur, followed by another series in which replenishment of either shuttle can occur, if required. A loom of this type operates with a gang of shifting shuttle boxes at each end of the lay and a shuttle after being active for one pick or beat only is shifted out of action by the gang into which it has been picked to permit the other shuttle to be active for one pick only.

During the weft replenishment series there is first a weft detecting operation on one beat of the loom as a shuttle goes out of action and then a bobbin-changing operation on the following beat, provided the shuttle is depleted of weft. This happens for each shuttle during the series and during said following beats neither shuttle can be picked. There will thus occur two blank beats during the series in neither of which weft is laid. It is usual to prevent operation of the takeup on these blank beats to prevent a thin place from occurring in the fabric, and this results in the fell of the cloth not being advanced.

As made heretofore such looms have had a xed reed on the lay which operates to strike the fell on every forward beat of the lay, whether or not a weft thread has been laid.' This results in the fell of the cloth being struck a second time by the reed even though the takeup has not advanced the fell. Such a condition is harmful in the weavingv of certain fabrics.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a reed so controlled that it will be in normal beat-up position on the lay after each weft laying beat of the loom but will be held in a rearward nonbeat-up position for those beats of the loom when no weft has been laid in the warp shed. In this way the reed is prevented from striking the fell on those beats when it has not been advanced by the takeup. A reed controlled in this way is desirable for the weaving of many fabrics such as satins, and also for those fabrics which employ elastic wefts or warp threads which after stretching have a low recovery factor. These are examples of fabrics and yarns in the weaving of which the reed control is desirable, but such a control is not limited in its use to such examples.

Looms of the type to which the invention more particularly relates are frequently provided with a Knowles head mechanism for raising and lowering the harness frames and also shifting the shuttle boxes. This type of Mrice mechanism employs oppositely rotating mutilated cylinders between which are located vibrator gears mounted on vibrator levers and operatively attached by connectors to harness lifting jack levers. In the operation of the cylinders and gears the latter are rotated during only part of a complete beat of the loom so that jack levers connected to them will be shifted from one position to another when the lay is in the forward part of its motion and will then be stationary while the lay is inthe rear part of its motion. It is a further object of the invention to provide means for controlling the aforesaid reed from a jack lever through connections including delay means which permits use of an indication given by the jack at the propertime in the loom cycle.

The reed may be mounted with its upper part pivoted to swing with respect to the lay to be either in beat-up or nonbeat-up position. Toggle joints connected to the reed can either be straightened to move the reed to its normal beat-up position or bent so that the reed can assume its abnormal nonbeat-up position. The toggle joints as shownherein are operatively connected to levers which rise and fall due to forward and backward motion of the lay vand for the normal position of the reed these levers are not obstructed in their rising movement and permit their toggle joints to be straight. When the reed is to be in nonbeat-up position, however, hooks or latches are moved over the levers to prevent their normal rising motion to thereby exert a force which bends the toggle joints to move the reed rearwardly relatively to the lay. These hooks or latches are controlled by the aforesaid connections to the jack lever.

The takeup is prevented from operating and the reed is moved to its nonbeat-up position for each blank beat of the loom, and in order to keep these two mechanisms properly timed it is a further object of the invention to control them both from the pattern chain means of the loom.

In'order that the invention may be clearly understood reference is made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example the embodiments of the invention and in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic view of the upper part of a loom showing a weft replenishing magazine and part of the lay with two shifting shuttle boxes and means for elfecting replenishment of a depleted shuttle in the upper cell of the shuttle boxes,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the loom having the invention applied thereto as viewed from the left side of Fig. l, parts being in section, the reed being in nonbeat-up position,

Fig. 3 is a plan view looking in the direction of arrow 3, Fig. 2,

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged detailed vertical sections taken on lines 4 4, 57-5 and 6--6 respectively, Fig. 3,

Fig. 7 is a rear elevation looking in the direction of arrow 7, Fig. 2, but on an enlarged scale and with part of the structure omitted,

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic front elevation of part of the loom showing the Knowles head and picking mechanisms, the pattern chain, and part of the mechanism which controls the reed,

Fig. 9 is a vertical section through the lay showing the intermediate support for the movable reed and the toggle joint for one end of the reed, the latter being shown in normal beat-up position, Fig. l0 is a diagrammatic view showing a sequence of 18 beats of the loom with the corresponding positions of the shuttle boxes and the shuttles and indicating the beats on which no weft is laid,

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic view showing a pattern chain means which controls the drop box part of the head mechanism,

Fig. 11a is a diagrammatic view similar to Fig. l1 but showing the part of the chain means for the harness section of the shed, and

Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic side elevation showing a takeup and control for it such as may be used with the invention.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 2, the loom framework has loomsides one of which is shown at 1. A lay L is mounted to rock about a rocker shaft 2 by means of connectors one of which is shown at 3. The connectors are reciprocated backwardly and forwardly by a crank shaft 4 connected by gearing 5 indicated diagrammatically to bottom shaft 6. As shown herein the top shaft 4 turns twice as fast as the bottom shaft, although this is not essential, and turns preferably in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2. As shown in that figure the lay is in its front center position close to the breastbeam 7 over which the fabric F is led.

The loom has the usual warp harnesses located behind the lay but these are omitted for the sake of clearness. To control the harnesses there is provided a Knowles head mechanism K provided with top and bottom mutilated cylinder gears 10 and 11 respectively which turn in opposite directions as indicated by the arrows, Fig. 8. Extending between these cylinders, which may be driven in any approved well known manner, so that they complete a rotation each beat of the loom, are Vibrator levers 12 pivoted on a heel pin 13 and each having rotatable thereon a vibrator gear 14. The vibrator levers extend over a pattern chain means C having high and low rolls 15 and 16 respectively. Each vibrator gear 14 is attached by a connector 17 to a jack lever 18 rockable about a fixed pin 19.

The position of each jack 18 will depend upon the direction in which its vibrator gear 14 has previously been turned by one or the other of the cylinders 1i) or 11. After a vibrator gear has been given the normal angular motion in either direction it will establish a locked condition for its jack lever 18, this being a well known characteristic of the Knowles head. The pattern chain presents a new set of rolls under the vibrator levers each beat of the loom when the lay is in the backward part of its motion, or when it is moving from its top center through back center to bottom center position. The cylinders 10 and 11 move the vibrator gears when the lay is in the forward part of its motion approximately from bottom center through front center to top center position, and it is in this part of the loom cycle that the jack levers 18 shift. It is to be understood that these positions are approximate inasmuch as the Knowles head is customarily made in a variety of timings but the operation of the cylinders and the vibrator gears will be approximately as described. A vibrator gear can be raised for turning by the top cylinder, or lowered for turning by the lower cylinder, and when thus turned will remain in its angular position until it is again moved vertically by the chain means. Each jack lever can thus be moved to either of two positions on any loom beat, and remain in either position if desired.

The picking mechanism for the shuttles is controlled from mechanism K through a lever link connected to one of the vibrator gears and attached by a rod 26 to a lever 27 pivoted on fixed stand 28. Lever 27 when rocked will slide the picking arm 29 slide keyed to bottom shaft 6 either toward or from the picking cam 30, depending upon whether lever 25 raises or depresses rod 26. Lever 27 is also connected by a rod 31 to a second lever 32 pivoted on another fixed stand 33 and operatively connected to a picking arm 34 similar to arm 29 and movable into or out of operative position relative to cam 35. The picking mechanism is such that the arms 29 and 34 slide in unison along the bottom shaft 6 so that only one of them at a time will be operatively related to its picking cam or 35. A picking mechanism thus controlled can have a picking operation from either end of the loom on any pick depending upon the position of the lever 25.

Referring to Fig. 1, the loom is provided with a reserve bobbin magazine M which is customarily located at the right-hand end of the loom. Under the magazine is a right-hand gang RG of shuttle boxes having upper and lower box cells 40 and 41. The gang can be shifted so that either of these cells can be in active picking position aligned with the shuttle race 42. The magazine includes a transferrer arm T for transferring a bobbin drawn from the magazine M into the top cell 40 when the gang RG is in raised position as shown for instance in position XV, Fig. 10, provided a shuttle in the box is depleted of weft. The weft detector D is aligned with the top cell 40 and rises and falls with the gang RG. When a shuttle has entered box 40 while gang RG is down and is to have a replenishing operation the detector will detect the condition of the shuttle in cell 40 as the gang RG rises while the lay is in the forward part of its motion, to the right as viewed in Fig. 2. If the detector indicates, weft exhaustion the transfer arm T will then transfer a properly colored bobbin from the magazine M into the shuttle in cell 40 on the next forward beat of the lay. The magazine M is capable of providing a properly colored bobbin for each of the two shuttles S1 and S2 and at the time of bobbin transfer the bottom cell 41 should be empty to provide a path for the outgoing depleted bobbin.

In order that a'high rate of production may be obtained it has been customary in looms of the general type to which the present invention relates to operate them for a sequence of picks or beats during certain of which a weft replenishing operation cannot occur. This is indicated in Fig. 10 for the series of picks or beats I-XII, marked Non-Auto. During this series the shuttles are active in alternation each beat to lay weft to provide a two-color pick and pick fabric. During the remainder of the sequence, beats XIII-XVIII marked Auto. weft replenishments can occur. During certain beats of this Auto. series neither shuttle is picked, as will be further described hereinafter.

Fig. 12 shows diagrammatically a takeup mechanism made to prevent operation on the beat-ups of the lay following the blank picks to prevent thin places in the fabric. A takeup roll 20 has fixed with relation to it a ratchet wheel 21 to be fed by a feed pawl 22 having a regular reciprocating movement every beat of the loom. A hold pawl 23 holds the setting of the ratchet on the non-feed strokes of pawl 22. A connector 24 lifts the feed pawl to prevent turning of the takeup roll for the beats corresponding to the blank picks, and this connector is pulled to lift its pawl when a lever 36 is raised by high rolls 37 on chain C. There will be a high roll for each blank pick, but on beats when weft is laid low rolls 38 enable lever 36 to descend to reestablish driving relations between the feed pawl and the ratchet.

The matter thus far described may be similar to that shown in copending application filed on January 5, 1955, by William E. Kimmel, Serial No. 519,754.

In the present instance a reed indicated generally at R is pivoted at its upper end -to the lay `so that the lower end thereof can swing backwardly and forwardly with respect t-o the lay and raceplate 42 to be either in the abnormal rearward nfo-nbeat-up position shown in Fig. 2, or in the` normal forward beat-up position shown in Fig.9. In order to accomplish this result the top handrail 50 which receives the upper edge 51 of the reed has bearings 52 at its ends each to receive a pivot stud 53 fixed with respect to the upper end of the adjacent laysword 54, see Fig. 7. Each bearing 52 has depending therefrom an arm 55 integral a-t its lower end with a foot 56 which by screws 57 is secured to a reed backstay 58. The reed is thus mounted iso that it can swing around a horizontal axis defined by Istuds 53 to permit the lower part thereof to assume different back and forth positions with respect to the lay.

Each arm 55 is pivoted at 61) to a toggle link 61 pivoted at 62` to a toggle lever 63 pivoted at 64 to a bracket 65 extending rearwardly from and fixed to the adjacent laysword. A tension spring 66 is connected to the lever 63 at its upper end as shown for instance in Fig. 2 and has its lower end held by a screw or bolt 67 mounted on a plate 68 secured to and extending rearwardly from the laysword. The effect of spring 66 is to tend to keep a toggle defined by link 61 and lever 63 in a 4str-aight position to hold the reed in its forward or normal beat-up position, as shown -in Fig. 9. An adjusting screw 69 on the link 61 engages the lever 63 to afford adjustment between the parts 61 and 63 to permit the toggle to move to a locked position. A rod 70 adjustable as to length is pivoted a-t 7,1 to the lever 63 and has its lower end pivoted at 72 to a lever 73 rockable about a stud 74 mounted in fixed position with respect to the rear par-t of the loom frame. It is to be understood Ithat there is a toggle joint at each end of the reed and each joint is associated with a rod 70 and a lever 73.

A center brace or support for the back-stay 58 is provided as shown more particularly in Figs. 2 `and 7 and comprises a pla-te 75 slidable vertically through ya guide 76 on 4an intermediate sword 54a at the back of the lay at Iapproximately the mid point of its length. The lower end of the plate 75 is connected to 'a head 77 pivoted to a link 78 lthe lower end :of -which is pivoted at 79 -to a lever 80. The latter is pivoted at 81 to la bracket 82 secured to the lay. Tension springs 83 have their lower ends connected at 84 to lever 80 and have their upper ends xed as at 85 to the :bracket 82. The effect of springs 83 is to tend to lift Ithe plate 75 into looking position yas shown in Fig. 9 so that the upper end of the plate can engage a wedge 86 secured to lthe backstay lat la point intermediate its length. A rod 8'7 adjustable as to length has its yupper end pivoted at 88 to lever l80 and has its lower end pivoted at 89 to a lever 90 pivoted on a stud 91 supported near the middle of the loom and preferably, though not necessarily, aligned lengthwise of the loom with the studs 74, see Fig. 3.

Normally, with the reed locked in the forward position shown in Fig. 9, the lay will swing backwa-rdly and for- Wardly yand the levers 73 and the intermediate lever 90 will rise and fall, rising as the lay moves from its back center to its Vfront center position land lthen descending as 4the lay moves from front center to lback center. Ordinarily, the levers 73 yand 90 are free and not restrained in their upward movement so that the spring-s 66 land 83 can maint-ain the :toggles in locked position `and hold the plate 75 in backstay -supporting position.

For each of the levers 73 there is provided a lock or latch 95 pivoted at its upper end at l96 'to a lsupport 97 txed with respect to an adjacent part of the loom, suc-h as ya loomside. The right-hand latch 95 has a hook 100 for engagement with lthe adjacent lever 73 and has its lower end connected at 101 to a rod design-ated generally at 102 extending lengthwise of 'the lo-om. A Atension spring 103 is connected between the right-hand latch 95, F-ig. 4, and a fixed part of :the loom and tends normally to move latch-es 95 and rod 102 to -the full line position shown in Figs. 4 and 6, but can be stretched to permit fthe latches 95 to move tothe dotted line position shown in those figures. lt is to be understood that the opposite or left-hand side of the loom as viewed from fthe front will have a lsimilar latch 95 `for the other lever 73.

Across g-irt 105, Fig. 3, forming part of the loom frame supports `a bracket 106 having a pivot stud 107 on which rocks an intermediate latc-h or lock 108 similar to the latches 95, `see 1Fig. 5. Latch 108 has -a lhook 109 to overhang :the lever 90 in the same manner that hook-s 100 can -overhang levers 73. The rod 102 has a `section 1.10 which is pivoted `at 1-11 to the lower end of the lock 108 and has another section 112, which extends from pivot .1,11 to the other of Ilthe locks 95. The ltwo locks 915 and the hook l103, which may be conside-red as interrupting means for their respective levers 73 and 90, therefore move in unison and the direction of their motion is determined bythe direction of movement of rod 102.

A bell crank lever l115, Isee Figs. 6 and 8, is pivoted at 116 to a fixed support 117 land has a horizontal arm 118 pivoted to an upwardly extending rod 119 having a slotted rod head 120 Ion the Aupper end thereof. One of the jack levers of vthe loom, design-ated :herein at 18a, carries a lstud .121 on the horizontal larm 122 thereof, see Fig. 8. The stud exerts a downward f-orce on rod 119 during part of the operation of the loom as will be described and at other times moves upwardly in Ithe slot 123 o-f the rod head. The jack lever 18a fis preferably located at the rear of the harness actuating mutilated cylinders 125 and 125a form-ing parts lrespectively of the previously described cylinders 10 and 11.

The jack .18aA is operated much in 'the same manner as `are the other harness cont-rollin-g jacks and has a vibrator ygear 14a which in the present instance may be positioned between mutilated cylinder .sections 126 .and 127 moving with the parts 125 and 125a of thecylinders but adjustable `angularly with respect thereto. Cylinder sections similar to parts 126 `and 127 are commonly used in Knowles heads for both the box ,and harness section of the mutilated cylinders, but not for the purpose of cont-rolling a loom reed. .The position of the vibrator gear 14a will be determined by a vibrator lever lof the kind already described and positioned by a row RC of indicators comp-ri-sing high and low roll-s on the harness chain section CH. The jack 18a lcan therefore move either in a clockwise direct-ion -to the position shown in Fig. 8 when -a low roll or sinker is under its vibrator lever, or it can be moved 4in la counterclockwise :direction Ito 'a second position part of whichis indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 8 when a high roll replaces thesi-nker. ln either of these posi-tions the jack will be locked inl a way characteristic of the Knowles head mechanism K.

The generally vertical arm 130 of the bell crank lever 115, see Figs. 6 and 8, is pivoted to a rod head 131 connected to a short rod 132 the right end of which as viewed in Fig. 6 is bent upwardly at 133 to form an eye 134 through which passes the left-hand end of a rod V135 pivoted at 136 to the yleft-hand lock 95 as shown in Fig. 6 and acting as an extension of rod 102. The rod 135 has its lleft end bent down to form an eye 137 which receives the rod 132. Between the bent ends 133 and 137 is located a compression spring 138 which tends to hold the upper bent end 133 against a collar 139 fixed in lengthwise adjusted position on rod 135. The spring 138 can be compressed, however, by movement of lever 115 from the full line to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 6 if rod 135 is held against movement to the left.

In the operation of those parts of the mechanism related to the reed it may be assumed thatduring the greaterY part of operation of the loom the reed will be in its normal beat-up position, that is, forward with respect to the lay as shown in Fig. 9, for the beats I-XII in the nonautomatic series, Fig. l0, and also for certain beats in the automatic series. The springs 66 and 83 acting with their locks will hold the reed in this position so long as the latches or locks 95 and 108 are in the dotted line positions shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The locks will be held in this position due to the fact that the jack, lever 18a will be in the position indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 8, so that the arm 122 of the jack lever exerts a downward force on rod 119 to rock lever 115V to the dotted line position, Fig. 6. 'The spring 138 is stronger than spring 103 so that the jack lever 18a will be able to hold all of the locks in noninterrupting position out of the paths of their respective levers 73 or 90.

vWhen'the time arrives in the operation of the loom to move the reed to the abnormal nonbeat-up position shown in Fig. 2 this result will be accomplished by moving the locks 95 and 108 over their respective levers when thelatter are in their down positions correspondling to the location of the lay in the rear part of its reciprocation. The lever 18a will be moved in a clockwise direction, Fig. 8, so that the stud 121 will rise and permit spring 103 to move the locks either to their locking position or toward locking position. Spring 103 will be free to act when stud 121 begins its upward motion which will be when the lay is moving forwardly so that the levers 73 and 90 will be rising and this spring will move the locks 95 and 1% laterally against their respective levers with the latter at some point above the hooks 141@ and 199. As stud 121 continues to move up it will have an idle rising motion in slot 123 and as the lay reaches front center position the reed will still be in its normal position. On the next backward stroke, however, the levers 73 and 96 will move downwardly, sliding down along their respective locks until the levers reach a position below their respective hooks, at which time spring 163 will give the locks a slight additional movement to move the hooks 100 and 1tl9 over their levers to a interrupting position. On the next forward movement of the lay, therefore, the upward motion of the levers '73 and 90 will be arrested by their hooks. The rods 7% and 87 will therefore not have their normal rising motion but will be held down so that each rod 7G will move its toggle to the position shown in Fig. 2 and rod $7 will move its lock plate 75 down to the position shown in that figure. The reed will therefore be moved rearwardly to its abnormal nonbeat-up position as the lay approaches its front center position and will not strike the fell of the cloth.

This rearward position of the reed will ordinarily occur for only one beat of the loom although the invention is not limited to this single beat operation of the reed, but as shown herein the reed will return to its normal beat-up position for the next picking operation of the loom to guide the shuttle. This return will be accomplished by a shift of jack lever 18a from the full line to the dotted line position of Fig. 8 which will occur while the lay is in the forward part of its movement and stud 121 will push the rod 119 downwardly as the lay moves toward picking position or at approximately top center. At this time, however, the levers 73 and 90 are likely still to be engaged with their locks and the downward thrust of rod 119 will not be able to move the locks 95 and 198 to unlocking position. Spring 138 will therefore be compressed while rod 135 and the rod indicated generally at 102 remains stationary.

lt will be noted that the upper edges of the levers 73 and 90 are beveled so as to tit into the notch on the underside of the hooks 160 and 109. Because of this condition a resistance is offered to the movement of the locks to their unlocked position and this resistance, coupled with the force exerted by spring 103, is sufficient to over-power and compress spring 138 and hold it compressed until the lay in its backward motion moves the levers 73 and 9o to a point below their hooks 100 and 109, at which time the spring 13S is free to move the locks to the noninterrupting position shown in dotted lines in Figs. 4, and 6. The springs 66 are then able to return the toggles to locked position and springs 83 are able to lift the support plate 75 to restore the reed to its normal position.

Fig. l0 shows one example of a sequence of picks with which the invention can be used. In that gure the right and left-hand shuttle box gangs RG and LG are shown in the position they occupy at the beginning of the cycles numbered i-XVIII. The cycles begin at the time in the loom cycle when the shuttle would ordinarily be picked, or approximately at, or before, top center with the lay moving rearwardly. Each cycle therefore begins when a shuttle would normally start its flight and includes the following forward beat of the lay. The gangs occupy the positions shown for about onehalf of a cycle while a shuttle is in flight and then shift between the positions shown to be in the following position at the beginning of the next cycle. In the upper series marked I Non-Auto in Fig. 10 the shuttles S1 and S2 follow each other in succeeding cycles so that for each cycle a weft thread is laid. In the lower series marked Auto, however, it will be seen that two blank picks, XV and XVIII, are indicated, the weaving of the two-color pick and pick fabric during the automatic part of the sequence requiring these two blank beats or cycles. The takeup is stopped for each of these cycles and on each forward beat of the lay following a blank beat the reed is moved rearwardly to its abnormal nonbeat-up position to prevent it from striking the fell. On the next beat of the loom following each blank pick a shuttle will be active and the reed will be returned to its normal position to guide the shuttle at the beginning of the next cycle. The weft laid in that cycle will be beat up by the reed which will have been returned to its normal beat-up position.

With further reference to the Auto series of Fig. l0 the weft detection of shuttle S1 will occur when the lay is in its front center position between the positions marked Xlll and XIV. Shuttles S2 can be picked immediately after weft detection as indicated at position XIV. If a bobbin transfer is to occur due to depletion of shuttle Si it will take place when the lay is again on front center between position XIV and XV. Shuttle S1 is therefore kept out of action for two successive beats and since shuttle SZ was active on the rst of these beats and cannot be active on the next because of the pick and pick requirements, S2 remains inactive for position XV and the beat or cycle corresponding to this position is blank. A similar condition exists for shuttle S2 as inicated in the lower part of Fig. l, the blank cycle occurring for position XVIII. It should be borne in mind that the sequence illustrated in Fig. l0 is for illustrative purposes only and that the invention will operate on a variety of other sequences which, however, will contain blank or nonweft laying cycles.

Figs. ll and lla show the two chains which are provided for the two sections of the head. The forward section, the right at Fig. 2, as already described, includes cylinders and 125a devoted to the shifting of the harness frames. The rear part of the head motion has two other cylinders and 1505i. The cylinders 125 and 15h collectively form the top cylinder 10 and the cylinders 125e and 150g collectively form the lower cylinder 11 as shown in Fig. 8. The chain marked CB, Fig. ll, will cause the box shiftings shown in Fig. l0 and will also exercise other controls, such as prevent the weft detector from indicating exhaustion during the nonautomatic part of the sequence, prevent the filling stop motion from stopping the loom on the blank beats or cycles when no shuttle is picked, prevent the takeup from advancing the fell of the cloth on the nonpicking beats, and control the picking mechanism, all as utilized in the aforesaid Kimmel invention.

The chain CH which controls the harness frames will have its rear section, designated at RC, Fig. 11a, provided with risers and sinkers for the jack lever 18a. The indication for jack lever 13a will not necessarily be derived from the harness chain in all the uses to which the invention can be put, and the chains CB and CH are to be considered as representing pattern chain means, since either of these chains can control the jack lever. in the type of loom operating with blank cycles the chains CB and CH are likely to be of the same length, or the length of one of them will be a multiple of the length of the other, but this relation need not be so in every instance, especially if the head controls the reed in looms which operate without the blank beats.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the invention sets forth means whereby the reed will be in its normal beat-up position for each beat or cycle of the loom in which a weft thread has been laid in the shed and is moved to nonbeat-up position for those cycles in which no weft is laid. A loom cycle may be considered to begin at the time when a shuttle is normally picked. In

thisway wefts or fabr'ics which might otherwise be damaged if the reed were fixed to the lay can be woven without risk of leaving a mark in the cloth. The extent of rearward displacement of the reed can be varied by reason of the adjustments shown and described. The control of the reed from the Knowles head can have uses on looms not necessarily operating with blank cycles, and the specific connections between the jack lever and the reed would be useful on such looms. The rearward movement of the reed relative to the lay can be for only one pick as valready described, or it can be for two successive picks if the type of fabric being woven requires two successive blank cycles such as set forth for instance in copending application filed on December 9, 1955, Serial No. 552,233. All of the connections between the vibrator gear 14a and the reed may be considered as the operating means for the reed, coupled with the lay which by its forward motion contributes to the rear movement of the reed relative to the lay. It is believed, however, that it is a new feature in loom operation to hold the reed back for the forward beats of the lay corresponding to blank cycles, and the operating means is not necessarily limited to the specific means shown. Also, the pattern chain means referred to herein relates to any chain or chains which control the loom operation, and the chain means will not necessarily be limited to the specific showing herein for all features of the invention.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

1. In a weft replenishing loom operating in cycles each beginning when a shuttle would ordinarily be picked and each including a forward beat of the lay, the loom operating in such manner that no picks of weft are laid during certain cycles of a sequence of successive cycles and weft is laid in the remaining cycles of the sequence, a reed on the lay to be either in normal forward beat-up position or in abnormal rearward nonbeat-up position relative to the lay on each forward beat of the latter, and operating means for the reed causing the reed to be in the abnormal position thereof for the forward beats of the lay corresponding to said certain cycles and be 'in the normal position thereof for the forward beats of the lay corresponding to the remaining cycles of the sequence.

2. The loom set forth in claim 1 wherein said reed is in the abnormal position thereof during the latter part of the cycles in which no pick is laid and the operating means causes the reed to be in the normal shuttle guiding position thereof relative to the lay at the beginning of each cycle following a cycle in which no pick is laid.

3. The loom set forth in claim 1 wherein the loom operates with a takeup which is prevented from operating for said certain cycles so that the fell of the cloth is not advanced during said cycles and the reed is in its abnormal position to avoid striking the fell on those cycles in which fell is not advanced.

4. In a weft replenishing loom capable of replenishing the weft in each of two shuttles which run pick and pick to produce a two-color pick and pick fabric and operating in such manner that neither shuttle is active to lay a pick of weft for one beat of the lay corresponding to the beats of the latter when either shuttle can be replenished, a reed on the lay to be either in normal forward beat-up position or in abnormal rearward non-beat-up position relative to the lay on each forward stroke of the latter, and operating means for the reed causing the latter to be in the abnormal position thereof for each forward stroke of the lay corresponding to each of said one beats of the lay.

5. In a two shuttle pick and pick weft replenishing loom operating with a lay and in such manner that neither shuttle is active to lay a pick of weft during certain cycles of a sequence of successive cycles of the loom, one or the other of the shuttles being active to lay a pick of weft on each of the remaining cycles of the sequence, a reed on the lay to be either in normal forward beat-up position or in abnormal rearward nonbeat-up position relative to the lay on each forward beat of the latter, pattern chain means determining when said certain cycles of the loom shall occur during said sequence, and means controlled by said pattern chain means causing the reed to be in the abnormal positionthereof for the forward beat of the lay corresponding to each of said certain cycles and be in the normal position thereof for each of said remaining cycles.

6. The loom set forth in claim 5 wherein a weft re-` plenishing operation of the loom can occur only on said certain cycles and cannot occur on any of said remaining cycles of the sequence and the pattern chain means determines when said replenishing operations can occur.

7. In a weft replenishing loom having a lay and operating to weave pick and pick with two shuttles each of which during a sequence of cycles of the loom is in nonpicking position for a pair of successive cycles of the loom, neither shuttle being active to lay a pick of weft during one cycle of each of said pairs of cycles, a reed on the lay capable of being either in normal forward beat-up position or in abnormal rearward nonbeat-up position relative to the lay on each forward beat of the latter, pattern chain means determining the times in said sequence when said pairs of successive cycles are to occur, and means controlled by the chain means causing the reed to be in the abnormal position thereof for one forward beat of the lay for each of said pairs of cycles in the sequence and causing said reed to be in the normal position thereof during the remaining cycles of the sequence.

8. In a weft replenishing loom operating in cycles each beginning when a shuttle would normally be picked in the loom operation, the loom operating in such manner that no picks of weft are laid during certain cycles of a sequence of successive cycles and weft is laid during the remaining cycles of the sequence, a reed which strikes the fell of the cloth during each `of said remaining cycles to beat weft into the cloth, and means preventing the reed from striking the fell of the cloth during said certain cycles of the sequence.

9. The loom set forth in claim 8 wherein a takeup acts to advance the fell on each of said remaining cycles and is prevented from advancing the fell on said certain cycles.

l0. In a loom having a backwardly and forwardly reciprocating lay which moves regularly to front center, a reed on the lay mounted for movement relative thereto to be either in normal forward beat-up positionv or in abnormal rearward nonbeat-up position relative to the lay when the lay is on front center, lever means operatively connected to the reed having a normal rising movement as the lay moves forwardly and having a normal descending movement as the lay moves backwardly when the reed is in the normal beat-up position thereof relative to the lay, said lever means effective if prevented from having said normal rising movement to cause the reed to move to the abnormal nonbeat-up position thereof relative to the lay as the latter moves forwardly, two spaced oppositely rotating mutilated cylinder gears, a vibrator gear between said cylinder gears movable for angular movement by either of said cylinder gears, one at a time, interrupting means movable from a normal noninterrupting position relative to said lever means to an interrupting position to prevent said normal rising movement of the lever means, and operative connections between said vibrator gear and said interrupting means effective to cause the latter to move to the interrupting position thereof as the result of engagement of said vibrator gear by one of said cylinder gears.

11. The loom set forth in claim 10 wherein a jack lever is operatively connected to and is moved to either of two positions by the vibrator gear and the interrupting means includes movable latch means normally held in noninterrupting position relative to the lever means when the jack lever is in one of said two positions, and means moving the latch means into interrupting position relative to the lever means when the jack lever is in the other of said two positions.

l2. The loom set forth in claim l0 wherein the vibrator gear causes movement of a jack lever in one direction to move the interrupting means to noninterrupting position, operative connections including a resilient member between the jack lever and the interrupting means, other resilient means tending to move the interrupting means to interrupting position, the lever means when engaged with the interrupting' means exerting a force tending to prevent the latter from moving to noninterrupting position, said other resilient means plus said force being sufcient to cause deformation of the rst resilient means when the jack lever moves in said one direction, the lever means due to the descending movement thereof becoming disengaged from the interrupting means during backward movement of the lay, whereupon the rst resilient means overpowers said other resilient means and moves the interrupting means to noninterrupting position.

13. The loom set forth in claim l2 wherein operative connections between the jack lever and latch means transmit a force from the jack lever to the latch means when the jack lever is in said one position thereof and said jack lever has a lost motion with said operative connections when moving to said other position thereof, and resilient means due to said lost motion effects movement of the latch means against the lever means while the jack lever is moving to said other position thereof and subsequently moves the latch means into interrupting position while the lever means is having said descending movement thereof.

14. ln a loom having a backwardly and forwardly reciprocating lay which moves regularly toY front center, a reed on the lay mounted for movement relative thereto to be either in normal forward beat-up position or in abnormal rearward nonbeat-up position relative to the lay when the latter` is on front center, two spaced oppositely turning mutilated cylinder gears, each completing a rotation each beat of the loom, a vibrator gear between said cylinder gears for engagement with the latter, one cylinder at a time, and be moved angularly in one direction or the other, depending upon which cylinder gear engages it, a jack lever operatively connected to the vibrator gear and movable thereby to either of two positions, control means for the reed movable to either of two positions in one of which the reed is caused to be in the normal position thereof and in the other of which the reed is caused to bein the abnormal position thereof, and connections between the jack lever and said control means causing the latter to be in said one position thereof when the jack lever is in one of the two positions thereof and causing the control means to be in the other position thereof when the jack lever is in the other of said two positions thereof.

15. The loom set forth in claim 14 wherein said vibrator gear is capable of movement under control of a pattern chain means into engagement with one or the other of said cylinder gears to move said jack lever to either of said two positions thereof on any beat of the loom, depending upon the control exerted by the pattern chain on said vibrator gear.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,007,120 Holmes July 2, 1935 2,159,865 Shimwell et al. May 23, 1939 2,249,407 Turner July l5, 1941 2,346,803 Welti Apr. 18, 1944 

